


Aftershocks

by Kerkerian



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Conversations, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, Episode: s05e10 Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hospital, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, Mac Whump, Team as Family, Worried Wilt Bozer (MacGyver TV 2016), divergence from canon, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29905950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerkerian/pseuds/Kerkerian
Summary: Murdoc really did a number on Mac this time, but he's not the only one who's worse for wear afterwards.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 58





	Aftershocks

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own MacGyver.
> 
> To quote my own rant on tumblr:
> 
> I haven’t even been able to watch the episode yet (thank heavens for tumblr), but- shouldn’t the entire team be a shivering heap of collective shock at the end of the day after all that apparently happened?  
> With Mac being in physical shock as well, considering that he’s been hit by a car and then got beaten up by Murdoc- how is he even still standing after that?  
> I really hate it when the writers give us whump but don’t properly follow up on it!
> 
> So this is solely based on what I've seen on tumblr so far. Thanks to everyone who shared info about the episode!

The lights are dimmed at this time of night, and it's quiet; even the monitors behind the bed have been muted.

Bozer can't move away from said bed. He's rooted to the spot, his eyes on Mac who's asleep now, drugged to the gills and looking terrible: his face is bruised and partially swollen because he's sustained a hairline fracture in the cheekbone.

It's not the only thing that Murdoc broke: two ribs on Mac's back and his left wrist also bore the brunt of Murdoc's attack, and the latter fracture even required surgery. And that's still not all- when Mac was hit by a car earlier, he sustained some seriously bad bruising to the pelvis; the doctor initially feared that it might be fractured as well, but apparently, Mac was lucky.

How he moved around like that was beyond anyone's imagination: it must have been the adrenaline. Walking will be a bitch in the forseeable future though; Doctor Sinderby even said something about physical therapy in that regard.

The rest of Mac is black and blue as well, and Bozer is still shaking from having to witness the raw, unchecked violence, the deranged pleasure Murdoc was drawing from hurting Mac. Everything else that happened today pales in comparison. Well, not _everything_ , but Bozer doesn't want to allow himself to think of Leanna right now though; he can't be alone with that abyss.

So he does his best to focus on Mac; he's got an IV catheter in the back of his good hand, but Bozer's wrapped his hand around Mac's fingers nevertheless. He knows from experience how reassuring it is to feel someone being there, and he's convinced that Mac will know he's not alone.

A shiver runs down Bozer's spine as his thoughts are straying in the wrong direction again: they've had too many losses recently. They haven't even recovered from the blow that was Jack's death, and now this... briefly, he closes his eyes, tries not to think of Leanna's last moments. He's a film maker, he's good at coming up with possible scenarios, but that's the last thing he needs or wants right now.

He jumps a little when he feels a hand on his back, half expecting it to be a nurse.

“Hey,” Riley says gently, keeping her hand there as she looks at him: “Didn't mean to startle you.”

“It's okay,” Bozer replies in an equally low voice, actually feeling relieved that it's her. “What're you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same.” She gives him a soft, sad smile.

Bozer takes a deep breath: “I know the doc said we should all go home and get some rest because he's just gonna sleep anyway, but...I couldn't leave him alone.”

His eyes are brimming all of a sudden: “I really thought we're gonna lose him this time.”

Riley nods even as she puts her arm around him, her expression tensing up: she'll probably never forget the horror she felt as she was forced to look on helplessly, the gut-clenching fear when Mac just collapsed after untying Desi and her.

He was shaking so badly from pain and shock when he did it that his fingers were unusually clumsy, and he avoided looking her in the eyes. She doesn't know about Desi, but she feels terribly sorry for all the additional drama he's been put through. Which is still something they'll have to talk about, once Mac's up to it. And it's not something she's looking forward to.

The notion that Mac was actually going to propose to Desi and then got hit over the head with her own predicament, quite literally at that, makes her cringe whenever she thinks about it. She tried to talk to Desi on the plane home, but Desi just said it was okay and that she understood, then she excused herself and disappeared in the bathroom for quite a long time.

So yeah, it's a royal fuck-up if there ever was one. Especially since nothing has changed; if Riley is honest with herself, she's got to admit that she's still having feelings for Mac, and it's days like these that are only serving to increase those. Days on which they're on their lowest, and they undeniably had quite a share of those even before that one morning on which Matty asked the team into the war room with tears in her eyes and told them that she had some bad news.

The first time Riley met Mac, back when he and Jack got her out of supermax, she thought he was a cocky guy, self-confident and a little narcissistic maybe. By now, she knows him so much better, and her initial assessment of him couldn't have been more wrong.

She regards him now while she tightens her arm around Bozer's shoulders, feels him leaning into her and winding his own arm around her as well while tears are running down his face unchecked: after all that happened, it hasn't quite registered with her yet that Leanna's gone, and that one will be another veritable blow. Right now however, Mac's all she can think about.

One thing that's drawn Riley to him is his unconditional kindness, the way he puts others first no matter what; it's also his weak spot, making him vulnerable, and Riley sometimes hates it, hates how he fails to see his own worth at times. But it's who he is, part of what's making him special.

It's also why he needs protection, from the world and his own self, and that's worse when he's the most frail, like after his dad died, or when they lost Jack, because that's when Mac draws back into himself the most. Reproaches himself the most too.

She hasn't seen him cry about Jack once, but she can tell just how hard it hit him not only because it almost brought her to her knees as well and they were the two people who were closest to him, but because Mac was only a hollow shell in the first weeks after it happened. He stayed remarkably poised and strong while they were in Croatia finishing what Jack ultimately couldn't, but once they were back, he slowly and steadily seemed to get worse; the increasingly dark smudges underneath his eyes were evidence that he didn't sleep much, and he seemed subdued and if it was an effort to stand up straight.

He tried to pull himself together, they all did, but he managed to fool nobody. Not when he appeared close to breaking at any given moment.

And Riley had felt helpless. She wanted to be with Mac, hold him through the endless nights and be there for him during the days, but she couldn't, and that didn't haven anything to do with their situation or Desi. No, she felt like she was moving through molasses most of the time, unable to be herself, unable to think straight.

They managed to pull themselves together once they were back on the job, but that was like assuming a second identity which died the moment they were done, leaving them exhausted and fragile.

Desi told her how she didn't know what to do then, because Mac wouldn't let her in either. In hindsight, Riley thinks that it might have been different with herself, that she should've tried harder.

They're doing better by now, but Mac still gets a haunted look sometimes, usually when something reminds him of Jack, and that happens rather often.

She's glad that Jack didn't have to witness all this, but she nevertheless once more wishes that he was still here, that she could talk to him about the whole mess. And it's not only she who needs him. Her gaze wanders over Mac's pale, battered face and his still form, and before she realizes it, she's crying as well.

For a long time, Bozer and she just remain like that, sharing their sorrow.

“How're you doing?” Bozer eventually asks, once he's composed himself.

Riley wipes her eyes: “I'm feeling like an ass,” she mutters. “You should've seen the look on Desi's face, Boze...” She breaks off.

Bozer just nods, downtrodden. He'd like to tell her about that one time during their quarantine when Mac said there might have been a moment, just to make her feel better, but it'd feel like blabbing something out when it's actually Mac's place to talk about it with her. So he just squeezes her arm with his hand: “It's gonna be okay,” he says. “Maybe something good will come out of this.”

“How?”

Shrugging, Bozer looks at Mac again: “Even if it was Murdoc who spilled the beans, maybe it was about time.”

“You mean... because of Mac and Desi?”

“Yeah.” Bozer shakes his head. “I don't mean to gossip about them, you know I love them both. But... did they really seem content to be together?”

Mac and Desi playing footsie in that car park during the lockdown comes to Riley's mind, but apart from that, she's drawing a blank. “Not very often,” she's got to admit.

“See? I've seen him with Nikki, back then. That was different.” Mac had seemed happier, unburdened when it came to their relationship. With Desi, it seems like he's got to work too hard for it. And Bozer thinks that one shouldn't want to marry because of the wrong reasons.

Riley sighs: “Still. I don't want Desi to get hurt. Not by Mac, not by me.”

“I know,” Bozer says softly. “And I think she also knows that.”

“I hope so.” Riley reaches out to wrap her hand around Bozer's which is still holding on to Mac's fingers. “Thanks, Boze,” she all but whispers.

Bozer kisses her on the cheek, and they stay like that, silently keeping vigil.

Later, as Riley goes to get some coffee, she almost runs into Desi. They both take a step back, regarding one another breathlessly: “Sorry,” Riley then says, immediately feeling her eyes getting moist again, and this isn't about their almost collision right now.

To her surprise, Desi's eyes well up too, and a moment later, she comes closer and hugs Riley, who hugs her back: “I'm so sorry,” she repeats even though her throat is tight. “I'm... I don't know what to do. I'll resign, if that's what-”

“Shut up,” Desi interrupts her, unable to subdue a sob. “I know, okay? I know you'd never try to come between us, otherwise you'd already have done so. Plenty of chances.”

“You're my friends. I don't wanna lose either of you.”

“I know.”

Riley chokes out a laugh: “Why's everything so complicated?”

Desi is silent for a moment: “Maybe it's not.”

They pull back a little to look at each other. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe,” Desi says with an obvious effort, “this day just showed us what we didn't wanna see before.”

“Desi-”

“Mac isn't ready to propose to me, and neither am I.” Desi takes a hiccuping breath. “And I'm not sure that that will change. Ever.”

“Well,” Riley says, perplexed, “marriage isn't for everyone.”

“Not what I meant,” Desi says, sounding exhausted now. “But... thanks. You're a good person, Riley.”

Riley shakes her head: “I'm a stupid person,” she whispers, feeling fresh tears brimming in her eyes. “I was too caught up in my own stuff to even notice our comms had been hacked. If I had, none of this would've happened.”

“You don't know that.” Desi reaches up and cups her cheek with her hand, wiping away the tears on her cheek with her thumb. “I'm always glad you got our backs when it comes to tech,” she says earnestly.

Riley nods, briefly closing her eyes: “Thanks.”

Once more, they regard one another.

“So what now?” Riley's voice is barely audible.

Desi shrugs, taking a deep breath: “Now, we'll wait till Mac gets better. And then I guess I'll have to talk to him.” She looks around the room. “And maybe you should talk to him as well. Eventually.”

Riley doesn't quite know what to say, and she's confused. “Where is that going to leave us?” she asks, once she's got her voice back under control. “You and me?”

A sad smile flits over Desi's face. “Hopefully, in an okay place.”

Riley nods again: she hopes so too.

When Mac opens his eyes the first few times once the anesthetic wears off, he isn't quite awake; he's only lucid and aware of his surroundings on the following morning. He looks around for Jack until he remembers with a pang; to his pleasant surprise, he isn't alone though, since Bozer is napping in the recliner next to the bed.

Mac doesn't want to wake him, so he just lies still and takes stock. He feels suspiciously numb and a little floaty, but his face hurts even when he blinks. Well. For a moment there, he thought Murdoc was going to kill him, since his blows were merciless. Mac shivers involuntarily; this time, they've got to make sure that the lunatic stays where he is, because he doesn't think he'll survive another round with him.

Quickly, he pushes these morbid thoughts aside and concentrates on his body again. He hopes that his nose isn't broken, but it doesn't feel like it. His arm is in a cast though; right, his wrist. That did hurt badly. As did his hip. He shifts a little and winces; yeah, maybe not.

He's just come to the conclusion that it's best not to move at all when a nurse comes in. She smiles when she sees that he's awake, and he recognizes her.

“Good morning,” she says, “good to see you're awake.”

“Just,” he mutters, surprised by how weak his voice is.

“How're you feeling?”

“Steamrollered. And loopy.”

“Sounds about right,” she says sympathetically. “The doctor will be in shortly to talk to you about your injuries, I'll just check your vitals till then.”

Mac asks for some water first because his throat is parched; he's just finished drinking a few sips when Bozer stirs. He blinks, obviously needing a moment to get his bearings, then his face lights up: “Mac!”

“Hi, Boze,” Mac says, reaching for him with his good hand.

His friend gets up and takes it: “How are you, buddy?” His voice is full of concern.

“I wanna go home,” Mac replies, at which Bozer glances at the nurse, who just raises her eyebrows.

“Seems you're doing fine if you're already entertaining escape plans,” Bozer says.

“Counting on you as my getaway driver.”

“I'll see what I can do.”

Later, after Doctor Sinderby has been in as well, Bozer comes to stand right next to the bed again. Elaine has brought them both breakfast, which is really kind and also allows Bozer to help Mac, who's one-armed and barely able to move after all, without making it look as though he's fussing over him.

Mac is still tired, but he can see that Bozer looks drawn as well. “I'm so sorry about Leanna,” he mutters.

Bozer nods; talking about it is hard. “Yeah,” he says, clearing his throat a few times. “I... I'mma call her sister tonight. I should at least bring her some flowers.” His voice gives out at the last word, but that's okay. Mac reaches for Bozer's hand again and squeezes it, and they are silent until Bozer's got his composure back.

“You okay?” he then asks Mac, obviously not talking about his injuries.

“No,” Mac says after a moment. “Not really. Guess I got a lot to think about.”

“Remember quarantine?” Bozer says softly. “When you thought there had been a moment between Riley and you, and then dismissed it?” For a moment, Mac seems confused, then he nods, slowly: “Yeah,” he replies in a low voice. “Why?”

Bozer hesitates: Mac only woke up about an hour earlier, and this doesn't seem the right time to bring it up. On the other hand: he knows his little brother well enough to be aware that Mac's not going to let it rest now anyway. At least it's distracting him from thinking about Murdoc and the previous day, which has got to count for something.

So Bozer shrugs: “Just... You said you wanted to propose to Desi because the two of you need the commitment. Is that really a good enough reason to want to marry someone?”

Mac opens his mouth to answer and closes it again, obviously at a loss. “I don't know, man,” he eventually says softly, and he really doesn't.

“Hey,” Bozer says gently, because he can see the distress in Mac's expression. “If you wanna talk, I'm here, okay? Whenever you feel like it, big guy.”

“Thanks.” Mac's grip on Bozer's hand tightens.

Bozer regards him: “Get some rest,” he says softly. “It'll be okay. Maybe not at once, but... at one point.”

Mac sighs: “Hope so,” he mutters. “Be nice for a change.”

Bozer's heart contracts at that: Mac's right. He's been through so much, he could do with something good, something uncomplicated.

“Yeah,” he hears himself agreeing. “It would.”

This elicits a small smile before Mac closes his eyes.

Bozer watches as his features slowly relax and his breathing evens out; he intended to go and freshen up as soon as Mac's asleep, but once again, he finds himself rooted to the spot. And that's okay; times like these, the best place is to be with family.

He's aware that he's filling some big shoes here, that it's usually been Jack who wouldn't leave Mac's side in situations like these. He can almost hear Jack's voice, telling him not to be silly, that there's enough room for the both of them, because Jack was generous and kind that way.

Just like Leanna, just like Josh, and that thought hurts so much that he's relieved he's not alone, is still holding on to Mac's hand, because it is just as reassuring the other way round.

“I'm so glad I didn't lose you too,” he whispers. “Love you, Mackie.”

And thus he stays, keeping watch over Mac for a while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm not a Native Speaker, therefore I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> I really hope that Jack's still alive (we didn't see a body, right?), so in my mind, he isn't really dead. Only poor Team Improvise doesn't know it yet... 
> 
> #JackDaltonLives


End file.
